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BY 
JOSEPH H. TUMBACH 



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Copyright, 1920, 

By JOSEPH TUMBACH 

All Rights Reserved 



m 24 1920 



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BROODING AND CARING FOR BABY CHICKS. 

by 
Joseph H. Tumbach. 

The care of baby chicks as herein related is the method 
followed on The Tumbach Egg Farm. These pages are 
an extract from a 180-page volume entitled "How I Made 
$10,000 in One Year with 4200 Hens". 

This extract is published in response to requests for 
a low-priced version of this particular portion of the book, 
"something I can carry in my overalls or hang in the 
brooder house/' as one man expressed it. 

The complete volume, clothbound, is on sale at all prin- 
cipal poultry supply houses. It may also be had by ad- 
dressing the author at Pasadena, California. The price 
is $2.50, postpaid. 



PART FOUR 

A detailed description of the methods followed on The 
Tumbach Egg Farm. 

And this is 
"How I Made $10,000 in One Tear witk 4200 Hens" 

Hatching 

All of our hatching is done at a commercial hatchery, 
the eggs being supplied by us from our own stock. This 
course was adopted after several years of experience m 
doing our own hatching. Much may be said in favor of 
either system but the arguments would leave us where 
we started ; that is, that we leave the hatching to the man 
who makes hatching his business. When brooding time 
comes, bringing with it thousands of chicks, we have 
nothing on our minds but the care of those chicks. 

The eggs are marked with a rubber-stamp to avoid any 
possible confusion. It then becomes a matter simply of 
the honesty of the hatcher as to whether or not we get 
the chicks from our own eggs. 

We pay the hatcher so much per thousand eggs, re- 
gardless of the number of chicks hatched. 

We usually provide 6 cases (2160 eggs) for each hatch 
and we count on about 1500 chicks from this number. 
In a year of poor hatches we are likely to fall short and 
in good years we run over that number. The long haul 
in a truck — our eggs are carried 25 miles — reduces the 
hatchability of the eggs of course ; this has been taken 
into consideration. The hatcher calls for the eggs at our 
place and delivers the chicks. In both respects he is 
better equipped and more experienced as to the safest 
method of carrying than we are or could be. 



WITH 4200 HENS 67 

Carrying Baby Chicks 

To those who carry their own chicks a word of advice 
might be in order : The chicks must have air and warmth. 
If you are stacking up a lot of the familiar 100-chick 
carrying boxes in a motor car be sure the boxes are criss- 
crossed in such a way that each box will have air. The 
boxes should set level, otherwise the chicks will be 
jammed to the lower section of the box. If necessary 
place strips of wood between the boxes. As to warmth, 
the chicks will supply all they need for the trip, but this 
will not protect them against the draft made by the 
moving car. Excepting in hot weather it will be neces- 
sary to put a blanket over the load to keep off the draft, 
and even in hot weather a curtain of some kind should 
be hung in such a way as to stop the draft. It should 
be kept in mind that newly hatched chicks differ in no 
essential respect from a very young baby so far as sus- 
ceptibility to draft is concerned, and the writer's observa- 
tion is that a careful mother who carries the baby in a 
motor car quite generally has it completely covered. 

Should you meet with an accident on the road or if it 
is necessary to stop for as long as 10 minutes you should 
remove the blanketing — the draft stops with the car. We 
heard of an instance where a poultryman carrying a load 
of one thousand or twelve hundred chicks was delayed 
half an hour. He forgot to remove his blankets ; and he 
smothered more than half of the chicks. On the other 
hand we have known of many cases where chicks were 
chilled by the draft and a heavy mortality was the re- 
sult, which was of course blamed on the hatcher and the 
stock he hatched from. 



68 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

We are extremely careful with newly hatched chicks. 
If it becomes necessary to transfer some from one house 
to another we either use one of the cardboard chick boxes 
on which the lid can be set down tight, or else, if an open 
box is used, we put a gunny sack or a piece of flannel 
over the chicks before going outdoors. This may seem 
"fussy"; it must be remembered that your care of these 
chicks will make or mar your whole year. 

If your chicks are shipped to you by express, learn the 
exact time when the train is due and be there to meet it. 
Do not chance a careless expressman setting them out- 
doors in the rain or snow and wind ; or a careful one put- 
ting them next to the stove. Either course may cause 
you not only loss but a lot of misery and trouble. 

Selecting Eggs for Hatching 

We use no tgg for hatching that weighs less than 2 
ounces and we discard exceptionally large eggs also. 
The egg must be of normal shape, and must have a per- 
fect shell. "Pimples" of lime in the shell; shells with 
ridges and water-marks; shells that clink like glass on 
being tapped with the fingernail — all these are discarded , 
likewise, of course, any that are checked — by which is 
meant a crack in the shell which may or may not be a 
complete fracture. 

We take no chances of mixing hatching eggs with 
the general run — the buckets are marked with a card 
as they are brought to the eggroom, and the eggs dis- 
carded from the hatching eggs are never packed for mar- 
ket directly; they are put into a bucket and are graded 
and packed out of the bucket. With our years of experi- 



WITH 4200 HENS 69 

ence in packing we still deem it unsafe to try making the 
double grading in one operation. Should the cases be- 
come mixed the cost would be too great — especially if 
the eggs are sold. 

Time of Hatching 

Our first brood of chicks is brought off the second or 
third week in January and we have either two or three 
lots in that month, one week apart. These are followed 
by three lots in the month of March, also one week apart. 
This arrangement allows for keeping the first hatches in 
the brooder house a maximum of 8 weeks should a streak 
of bad weather be encountered. This leeway of time has 
saved us a great many chicks that would otherwise have 
been forced out of the brooder houses to make way for 
another lot regardless of extremely adverse weather. It 
was to avoid being so forced that we used three brooder 
houses earlier in our poultry career when we brooded 
only three lots in one season. Most poultrymen would 
agree with us, we think, that the greatest single factor 
in chick mortality is lack of proper housing facilities. 
It has come to be a common thing to hear, "I lost 
a lot of young pullets in my early hatches ; I had to put 
them in colony houses to make way for another hatch 
coming off." 

Foreword on Brooding 

The description of our brooding methods will be em- 
bellished to an extent which to those of experience may 
seem even absurd. It is the writer's purpose to give 
herewith a definite line of procedure for a novice to fol- 
low; as he expressed it in an outline, "I would have the 
chicks arrive and make him feel at home with them, not 



70 HOW I MADE $10,000- IN ONE YEAR 

like a hopeless idiot. I would take him along, day by day, 
morning, noon and night, knowing just what to do at 
each stage of the game." When this novice has gradu- 
ated he can do his own eliminating of non-essential fea- 
tures and make such changes as will best fit his own 
particular case and habits. But at the start, assuming 
that he knows nothing whatever about handling the 
chicks, we purpose giving him something to go on. 

Getting Ready for the Chicks 

The chicks are delivered to us 36 to 48 hours out of the 
incubators at which time they are ready for their first feed 
and water. 

About one week before the chicks are due the brooder 
house is in order. If it is a new one it has been 
thoroughly sprayed ; if an old one it has been cleaned, 
washed out with a hose and nozzle, allowed to dry and 
then sprayed. If clean sand, reasonably free from dust 
and dirt, is available, the floor is covered with it to a 
depth of about one inch. A light scattering of clean, 
bright straw, preferably wheat straw, is put over this ; if 
barley straw must be used it is put through the feed chop- 
per and cut into one inch lengths. If clean sand is not 
to be had none is used and the straw is made about two 
inches deep. 

The stove is started up and tested out thoroughly, run- 
ning several days if necessary to get the proper adjust- 
ment and to be sure it is working properly. The auto- 
matic alarm system is gone over and put in working 
position, the thermostat hanging by its wires (from a 
rafter) 12 inches above the floor, 3 feet from the stove 



WITH 4200 HENS 71 

and facing it. A thermometer, known to be registering 
accurately, is hung from the bottom of the alarm-thermo- 
stat, also facing the stove, the bulb hanging about 2 
inches above the straw. The inlet air shaft is opened 
about one inch and the outlet shaft about three inches 
on the bottom slide, the upper slide being kept closed. 
The heat is run up to 95 degrees. The alarm is set to 
ring the bell if the heat drops to 90 degrees (this is 
brought about by shutting off the stove), or if the heat 
rises to 100 degrees. Under ordinary weather conditions 
the space between either the hot or the cold contact points 
will be about the thickness of a worn dime ; but nothing 
short of experimenting will determine the exact setting. 

The house is allowed to warm up gradually rather than 
by forcing the stove. As already said, it may be neces- 
sary to extend the warming-up and testing out experi- 
ments over a period of several days. When the proper 
adjustments have been reached the stove is shut off until 
the day before the chicks are due to arrive. On the morn- 
ing of that day it is started up again; and it continues 
running from that time on. The burner is cleaned and 
scraped some time during the morning of the day the 
chicks are to arrive so that it will not need attention just 
after the chicks are in the room. 

A ring of 1-inch mesh netting, 12 inches high, about 
14 feet in diameter, covered with muslin, is set around 
the stove. This is to keep the chicks from straying. The 
muslin is fastened to the netting at the top by .stitching 
thread, and is on the inside of the netting. It must be 
fastened in place with the netting set in the form of a 
circle; if the netting is laid flat the muslin will bulge and 



72 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

the chicks will crawl under it and bunch up between it 
and the netting and many of them will squeeze through 
the wire. The ring should rest on the flooring, the straw 
being banked against it. 

Tar paper is cut into strips 2x3 feet, about 8 being 
used for 1500 chicks. These strips are put down inside 
the circle. A light scattering of chick grit is thrown over 
them, likewise a light scattering of hulled oats, cracked 
wheat and fine cracked corn (equal parts by weight). 
About an hour before the chicks are due the little cup and 
saucer chick fountains are filled with water from which 
the chill has been taken. We use one fountain to 100 
chicks. These are scattered promiscuously inside the 
circle, some of them very close to the stove, others on 
the tar paper. Tilt the "cup" slightly for an instant so 
the water will come up to the very edge of the "saucer." 

Then we are ready for the little newcomers. 

And if you purpose following our plan in caring for 
chicks, take this much advice: Work all night if you 
have to; but have that brooder house absolutely ready 
for your chicks at least 24 hours before they are due 
to arrive. We have heard of cases where the delivery- 
man from the hatchery had to assist in putting up the 
brooder stove intended to warm the chicks he brought 
in the month of January. From the writer's point of 
view this is little short of criminal; true enough, he 
views it from a prejudiced standpoint, the standpoint 
of one who really loves the birds and especially baby 
chicks. But almost any human being worthy the name 
would resent the idea of chucking a lot of helpless fluff 
balls, just out of a temperature of at least 103 into a damp, 



WITH 4200 HENS 73 

cold house, and certainly no one has the right to expect 
them to do well in such hands. 

Method of Brooding 

All available help is called into action when a load of 
chicks arrives and they are unloaded as quickly as pos- 
sible. The first boxes are carried to the farther side of 
the room. They are set on the outside of the wire circle, 
half of them on each end of the house. They are not 
piled up. On a hot day the lids are taken off the boxes 
as they are set down. If the sun is bright and strong 
the curtains are dropped over the windows to keep the 
chicks from crowding toward the strong light. 

Set a box close to the circle, sidewise, kneel down by 
the side of it and lift the chicks over the wire in bunches 
of five. Dip right into them with both hands. Have a 
pencil handy, and when you have emptied a box, mark on 
the lid of it the number of chicks you counted out. If 
dead ones are found toss them aside into one pile and 
count the dead when the live ones are all out. Don't 
drop the little chaps if you can help it — some men can 
handle them in what appears a rough manner without 
hurting them but this comes from long experience. 

Move as rapidly as you can and don't mind the chirp- 
ing; you will grow accustomed to it. They will "chup" 
quite a bit for a day or two until they have settled down. 
Meantime you will be surprised to see many of them 
drinking and eating before you get the last box emptied. 
The idea of tilting the fountain is to bring the water to 
the very edge so that when a little bill is laid to it the 
moisture is found at once. You want to get them started 



74 HOW I MADE $10 5 000 IN ONE YEAR 

in the shortest possible time and you are doing everything 
you can to make it easy for them. ' 

If you had things arranged as outlined you now have 
nothing to do but pile up the boxes and remove them. 
In doing this we always look through them carefully to 
be sure no chicks are overlooked. Next you should tack 
a large card on the wall of the brooder house, near the 
door, with a lead pencil hung over it by a string. On 
this card mark the date and number of chicks received, 
and as losses occur, mark them down. If you wish to 
learn the periods of heaviest mortality, mark off squares 
on the card and put each day's losses in a square. You 
will find such a record both interesting and instructive. 
We make no distinction between chicks found dead and 
those that we help out of the way. 

And then you can sit down and "size them up." The 
chicks themselves will tell you in a short time whether 
or not your temperature and ventilation are right. Dif- 
ferent lots require different degrees of heat and outside 
atmospheric conditions will necessitate a variation in the 
supply of air admitted. If it happens to be a very hot 
day you may have to lower your heat and increase the 
air supply immediately. In such case the chicks will 
pant for breath, some of them racing about, others 
"chupping" madly. If this continues for as much as say 
five minutes, open your inlet air slide to full capacity 
and open the upper outlet slide about half way; then 
turn down the regulating screw on the stove, giving it 
two or three full-round turns. This will reduce the heat 
and increase the fresh air in a very short time. 

Give the chicks a chance to settle down in the new 



WITH 4200 HENS 75 

atmosphere before making further radical changes. If 
they quiet down and begin to take an interest in water 
and feed, close the upper outlet shaft slide and increase 
the opening in the lower one. Then leave them to 
themselves. 

On the other hand, if they crowd each other and pack 
together, even right under the hood of the stove, run up 
the temperature by turning up the regulator screw; but 
do this slowly. Turn it a quarter ways around, leave it 
for a few minutes, until you hear the buzzing of the 
flame, then turn it a little further, and so on, until you 
have raised the temperature two or three degrees. Then 
leave it at that for half an hour or so ; and if, after that 
length of time they are still crowding the stove, repeat 
the operation, and continue doing so until they scat- 
ter and take to the water and feed. 

Meantime some of them may show an inclination to 
peck one another's toes ; this is not serious at this age. If 
you wish to take no chances of their getting started on a 
rampage of toe-picking, catch the chaps that do it and give 
them a drink. Hold the little fellow between your thumb 
and middle finger, leaving the index finger free. Take him 
to a fountain, and with the index finger "duck" his head to 
the water. Don't hold his head down very long — he must 
raise his head to get the water where he wants it. Then 
remove one fountain from the ring, tear off an edge of 
tar paper, put a little feed on it, and set your toe-peck- 
ing chap outside the ring with this feed and water to 
amuse him. Don't forget him, though, and step on him 
later on or leave him out all night. 

Chances are that in an hour or so they will have 



76 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

cleaned up your feed and are acting like old stagers. If 
so, give them another light scattering. You want to get 
them all to eating and drinking as fast as ever you can. 
Some of them will still stand around and "chup," and 
will go to sleep that way, without taking feed or water 
the first day. They will cry at intervals throughout the 
night. If you are patient and wish to bother with it, find 
the owner of the voice you hear and give him a drink. 
The writer has gotten out of bed many a time because 
he could not stand the crying voices and after making 
a few chaps happy with a drink has in all probability 
not only saved chicks from starvation but made his own 
night more comfortable. This is the "personal element" 
we hear so much about in connection with the conduct of 
any line of business, like the storekeeper who goes to 
the store especially to accommodate some good customer. 

Should your chicks arrive in the morning, so that they 
have had their first feed and water before noon, leave 
them until about 2 o'clock ; at that hour give them another 
light scattering of feed and tilt the water fountains again 
so that the water is up to the edge of the saucer. Keep 
the water at as high a level in the saucer as you can 
throughout the day. At 4 o'clock give them another 
feed and at this time replenish the fountains, using water 
from which the chill has been taken (by adding a little 
hot water). The easiest way to refill the fountains is to 
carry in two buckets, one filled with water, the other 
empty. Empty the fountain into the second bucket, then 
dip it into the fresh bucket, fit the saucer over it, reverse 
it, and set it down. You will have to move very cau- 
tiously, "feeling your way" amongst the chicks with your 



WITH 4200 HENS 77 

foot arid with your foot pushing aside any that happen 
to be in your way. You will learn this trick quickly. 
While in the ring, and later when you have turned them 
loose in the house, make it a practice to keep your feet 
as close to the floor as you can. 

If you are just starting in the business you will very 
likely have someone coming in to see your new chicks. 
Put a sign on the outside of the door reading "Be quiet ;" 
and if you take anyone into the brooder house, caution 
them to be quiet. When the chicks are just hatched noises 
will not bother them so much but when they are a few 
days old and thereafter it will be a very harmful influence 
to have someone come up to the house (or into it) and 
clap their hands and shout for joy at the sight. The little 
chaps will drop in their tracks or dash wildly for cover ; 
and anything of the sort will cost you money because 
a sudden nervous shock hurts any tender, nervous organi- 
zation. The more vigorous they are the more nervous 
they will be. This is not so noticeable when they are 
segregated into small lots, but where they are kept in 
swarms as we keep them it stands out boldly. You will 
learn it for yourself but guard against it if you can. 

The 4 o'clock feed is the last for the first day. Leave 
them until 5 (if early in the season), until 6 if later, but 
not until dark. The curtains should be raised before the 4 
o'clock feed if the day is short, so they will have plenty 
of light for the final feed. If the day is longer the cur- 
tains remain down. An hour after the last feed the water 
pots are removed ; set them outside the circle. Then pick 
up the tar paper. Brush off any chicks standing on it 
and put the paper outside the circle. Pile up the differ- 



78 HOW I MADE $10 ; 000 IN ONE YEAR 

ent pieces, saving what feed remains on them. Scatter 
this in the litter outside the ring or leave it for the morn- 
ing feed, whichever is easiest for you. It is better not 
to scatter it inside the ring where they will sleep on it. 

Then let the chicks settle down. If after half an hour 
or so, when they have begun to settle, they show an incli- 
nation to crowd toward the stove, increase the heat by 
turning the upper screw of the regulator, but do it slowly. 
You want them to stay at least two feet away from the 
legs of the stove. As darkness comes on they will miss 
their mother. There will be a great deal of crying and 
they will "cuddle" toward one another, trying to "get 
under." You will simply have to grin and bear this. 
They will finally settle down, very close to each other. 
They may favor one side or the other, bunching up ; if 
so, spread them around the stove by pushing a bunch 
along the straw. You may have to take a handful here 
and there and remove it bodily to another section. When 
they are a few days older they will find the right degree 
in the circle; and very often even the newly hatched 
will spread round the stove in a perfect circle. 

Should the main body crowd the outer edge of the 
wire circle, the temperature is too high and it should be 
reduced by turning down the stove. Only on warm nights 
will it be necessary to' increase the air supply by opening 
the inlet shaft more than an inch or so and the outlet shaft 
by three inches (on the bottom slide). You can gauge 
this by your own sensation while in the room. The air 
should be sweet but not cool. And remember that the 
feeling you have while standing upright is no guide — 
your face may feel hot and close but the chicks are far 



WITH 4200 HENS 79 

from the atmosphere you are "tasting." The fresh air 
is on the floor and the greatest heat is near the root— 
you must get down to the level of the chicks before your 
judgment can be taken. If your thermometer reads be- 
tween 90 and 95 and the chicks are settled with the outer 
ones near the thermometer, your heat is about right ; and 
if you do not feel a "stuffiness" in the air when you get 
your face down near the thermometer, your air is about 
right. 

We usually look in on the chicks at about 7 o'clock 
and again just before going to bed. Newly hatched, they 
should now look like a big omelette, close together, many 
with their necks stretched flat along the straw ; but they 
should not be piled three or four deep. If they are so 
piled up and are the proper distance from the stove there 
is too much air. Correct this by reducing the opening 
in the air shafts. Before leaving the house on the last 
round, test the alarm system by pressing the contact 
points together first on one side, then the other. The 
bell in the house should ring each time. 

We leave the curtains down at night for the first few 
nights. Thereafter it is raised after dark. 

Second Day 
On the second day raise the curtains as soon after day- 
light as possible. Put down the tar paper plats, scat- 
tering the grain on them as you go. This will be rather 
a tedious process on this day because they have not yet 
learned that it means "eat." Next day it will go easier. 
When they have had the feed about half an hour put 
in the water pots. Temper the water to the heat of your 
hand and add a level teaspoonful of common baking soda 
to each quart of water. (Use the two-bucket scheme for 



80 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

emptying and refilling the pots). This is done to over- 
come possible fermentation in the little crops, as yet un- 
used to "outside" feedstuffs. Leave them with their 
feed and water for about an hour. Then roll up the circle 
and set it aside. If you have the space above the rafter 
braces, make a place for it up there ; otherwise provide a 
bracket of some kind on the wall on which to hang it. 
Don't set it in a corner — it looks like mother to them and 
they are likely to crowd up around it during the day. 

If the day opens bright and clear drop the curtains ; if 
it is cloudy leave them up so as to have all light possible. 
Increase the ventilation by opening the air shafts wider — 
at least double the opening used during the night. On 
very warm days you may have to open one or more 
windows toward noon. Keep the air fresh and pure. 
There is no danger of overdoing the ventilation during 
the day — the night is the danger period in this respect. 
You should give them all the air possible during the day. 
Keep the temperature up ; they can get away from the 
heat in the ends of the house. 

Scatter a light feed of the oats, wheat and corn on the 
plats every three hours ; leave the plats in place on the 
second day so that the slower ones may yet have a chance 
to catch on. We make it a point to so regulate the quan- 
tity that there will be a little left on the plats an hour 
after feeding. Empty and refill the water pots at 11 o'clock 
and again at 3, but omit the soda after the first filling; 
and scatter the pots pretty well all over the room. If 
the chicks favor a certain portion of the house, put sev- 
eral pots in the vicinity. Take the chill off the water at 
each filling. 



WITH 4200 HENS 81 

When bed time comes you will have some trouble in 
rounding up the herd on this second night. Fasten one 
end of the wire to the wall near the stove and unrolling 
it as you go, round the little fellows ahead of you. In 
a day or two they will keep well ahead and it will be but 
a few minutes work to put the circle in place. Stay on 
the outside of the circle as you unroll it. You will likely 
have to reduce the temperature a point or two on this 
night to keep them the proper distance from the stove. 
Do not overlook reducing the openings of the airshafts. 
Get them back to the position at which you had them the 
night before. Test the alarm system same as you did 
last night. ^ 

Third Day 

On the third day feed and water early in the morning 
as before; but do not use the soda. Remember to take 
the chill off the water. Leave them in the circle for half 
an hour, then remove the circle and pile up the plats, scat- 
tering the left-over grain (if any) in the litter. 

At 9 or 9:30 on the third day we give them dry bran 
and charcoal. The bran must be absolutely pure and 
sweet — if it tastes bitter we do not use it. To a sack of 
bran (80 or 90 lbs.) we add about 8 pounds of fine char- 
coal. This is fed in little troughs. 

The trough is made of a piece of ^x3, in 4 foot 
lengths, on each side of which is nailed an ordinary lath. 
The end pieces are 3 inches high and a lath is nailed across 
the top from one end piece to the other, with a little sup- 
port in the center of just the right size to keep the top 
piece from sagging. We use one trough to each hundred 
chicks. The troughs are set lengthwise of the house close 



82 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

to the end walls, nine of them near the closed end and 
five in the end where the door is. If many chicks are 
working near the stove we transfer one or two troughs 
from each end to the side walls until they have learned 
to follow them. In this as well as in every other respect 
you will note that we go to extra trouble to get the little 
fellows started. 

We find it easier to fill the troughs the first day or 
two near the door and to carry them into place already 
filled. We use five gallon oil cans for feed pails. The top 
is cut out to within an inch of the edge. This one inch 
is turned over, making the top stronger. Heavy wire is 
used for a bale ; we fasten the bale toward one side rather 
than in the center. This makes it convenient to carry 
two pails in one hand which saves steps as two pails full 
of bran can be carried as easily as one. 

The troughs are filled with a small-mouthed scoop or 
a large sized flat stove shovel. Enough bran is put into 
each trough to bring it within half an inch of the top of 
the side pieces. If the trough is filled level full there 
will be too much waste — there will be some in any event, 
especially for the first few days as some of the little fel- 
lows will crawl into almost any sized opening. We 
have found that a trough of the exact dimensions given 
is least wasteful. 

The bran troughs are removed at about 11:30. We 
fasten two brackets to each end wall, not quite four feet 
apart and about two feet wide, and the troughs are set 
on the brackets. The top piece of the trough being flat 
and wide, the troughs will "stack" nicely. The water pots 
are then refilled and the plats are put down, most of them 



WITH 4200 HENS S3 

where the troughs have been but at least two on each 
side of the stove. A liberal scattering of grain is spread 
on them and this remains in place for about half an hour. 
The quantity can be gauged only by experimenting. 
Measure it in scoopfuls and if they leave part of it, reduce 
it next time ; if they clean it up in less time, increase it. 
At the end of half an hour the plats are piled up again 
and the troughs are replaced. If any are empty they are 
refilled; but they must be cleaned up before more is 
added. 

At 3 o'clock the water is freshened again and the 
troughs are removed. Grain is fed at 4 and the plats 
remain in place until bedtime. If the grain is cleaned up 
entirely within a short time a little more is scattered, but 
it must be cleaned up quickly and completely before this 
is done. The circle is put into place as before, the ventila- 
tion is adjusted and the alarm is tested. 

Fourth Day 
The same routine is followed on the 4th day. At this 
stage it usually becomes necessary to begin reducing the 
temperature. The location of the chicks within the circle 
after they have settled down is the best guide to follow 
in reducing the temperature. It should be done gradu- 
ally, one or two degrees at most. The 7 o'clock inspec- 
tion trip is the best time; then in looking in again just 
before retiring a re-adjustment can be made if necessary. 

Fifth and Sixth Days 

On the fifth day chick mash replaces the bran and 
green stuff is fed at noon in place of the grain. The 
simplest way of handling the chick mash problem is to 



WITH 4200 HENS 85 

use equal parts of bran and hen mash, with the addition 
of 100 pounds of bone meal to each completed ton, and 
this is not only a simple method but it continues trie 
heavy feeding of bran on which we place great reliance. 
The formula of hen mash will be found in the chapter 
devoted to feeding the layers. At this stage we begin 
to weigh the feed with the idea of keeping the chicks on 
half mash and half grain (by weight). A quantity of 
grain is weighed into a pail in the morning, likewise a 
quantity of mash into other pails. This is used for the 
day's feeding. In the evening the remainder is weighed 
and the results indicate the course to be followed next 
day. If your memory is not good, mark the results on a 
card fastened to the wall in the feedhouse. 

The chicks will be slow to take the green stuff at first. 
We use the plats, to which they have become accustomed. 
Very little will be needed at first, but in a short time 
they will take to it and then they are given all they will 
eat. The plats can then be omitted. When they have 
learned to eat the greens readily it will not be necessary 
to remove the troughs at noon. They can be left in place 
all day. 

Seventh to Eleventh Days 

On the 7th day the grain is fed in the morning without 
using the plats ; but they are used for the evening feed. 
At this stage it will be necessary to use a higher and 
wider netting for the circle ; we use one 2 feet high and 
long enough to make an oval reaching from side to side 
of the house and about 18 feet at the longest point. It 
is covered with muslin like the other. To support the 
wire, cords are fastened to the roof with a hook on the 



86 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

end of each. When the wire is unrolled the hooks are 
fastened as they are passed. The ventilation will have to 
be increased; this is done by increasing the openings in 
both inlet and outlet shafts. The chicks are likely now 
to be settling nearer the wire, but this is of no conse- 
quence. 

If the litter is beginning to look bare in spots, add an- 
other inch or two. 

The water pots are now set on little platforms. These 
are made of half inch pieces about one foot square nailed 
to blocks three inches high. They are set close together, 
about five feet from the stove, half on each side of it; 
at the noon filling they are set further back. The water 
is no longer tempered from this time on unless freezing 
weather prevails. The pots, platforms and all, are set 
back still farther when the wire is put up at night and 
when the wire is in place one or two pots are set inside 
of it, close to the stove, for the benefit of any chaps that 
may have overlooked their bed time drink. When the 
last inspection is made at night all of the pots are returned 
to their place inside the wire. This gives them water 
early in the morning, tempered, and at breakfast time 
they will be found busily scratching. 

Twelfth. to Twentieth Days 

On the 12th day more straw is added to the litter. If 
baled straw is available save out several chunks of it. 
Use these to bank up the corners, stuffing loose straw 
behind them to avoid a nice crawling-in place in which 
you would most likely find several hundred stacked up 
and smothered. 



WITH 4200 HENS 87 

A strip of muslin is now tacked to the rear wall, ex- 
tending to the floor. The wire, instead of forming an 
oval, is used running from one end wall to the other; 
one end is fastened just inside the outlet airshaft, the 
other end on the inlet shaft. It bulges out in the center 
where it goes around the stove. It is upheld by the cords 
and hooks which are changed to conform with the new 
position. The idea is to herd the chicks toward the back 
wall, where the roosts will be. The muslin on the back 
wall is a big help. It still looks like "mother." The tem- 
perature is increased for the night at this stage as the 
chicks will be farther from the stove. Some lots will re- 
quire a bit of herding when this change is made, but ordi- 
narily they take to it readily enough after one or two 
evenings. 

On the 14th day the roosts are let down in the morning 
before the troughs are put in place; the troughs are set 
in double rows beyond the roosts with one or two on top 
of them, set between the cross bars. This helps to get 
the chicks upstairs. The roosts are raised when the 
evening grain is fed. 

On the 18th day larger troughs are used. These are 
made of 3^x4, 6 feet long, for the bottom, with two pieces 
of 3^x2 for the sides, and the top is of ^4x2, the end 
pieces being 4 inches high. Larger water pots are used 
(4 or 5 quart) and fewer of them. 

Three Weeks and Thereafter 

At 3 weeks the morning grain feed is oniitted and 
sprouted oats are fed at from 9 to 10 o'clock. The oats 
is not allowed to sprout into a matted mass but is used 
when the white roots are about half an inch long. The 



88 . HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

chicks take to this readily. Enough is fed to last them 
about 15 minutes. It is fed in the litter. At this time 
we begin adding coarse grain to the evening feed, mix- 
ing it with the chick grain in gradually increasing quan- 
tities until the chick grain is entirely replaced at about 
7 weeks. 

We use the same grain for the chicks as we do for the 
layers excepting that we never give them barley with 
the hulls on it. 

A pan of medium shell and medium granite grit is also 
given them at this stage and is kept before them con- 
stantly. 

At four weeks the roosts are let down permanently. 
Some time after the evening grain feed has been cleaned 
up, but before the chicks begin to settle down behind the 
wire, we raise the end roosts and kick the straw into the 
corners, building it up to the heighth of the roosts. This 
prevents corner-crowding and is also an encouragement 
toward climbing up on the roosts. 

We usually clean out the brooder house and put in 
fresh straw the day before the roosts are to be lowered 
permanently. 

If warm nights prevail at from 3 to 4 weeks it may be 
necessary to temporarily increase the ventilation when 
the chicks begin to settle down. We do this by opening 
the upper slide of the outlet shaft about an inch. 
It is left open until the 7 o'clock inspection at which 
time, if the night air is cool, it is closed again. 

If the night air is warm it may be necessary to leave a 
slight opening in this upper slide all night. You can tell 
by the chicks whether or not it is necessary. If they are 



WITH 4200 HENS 89 

lying close together in the straw, (such as are not on 
the roosts), or if those that climbed up have dropped off, 
the upper slide may remain closed. 

If they are uncomfortably warm they will lie far apart, 
some with open mouths. It seldom happens that the 
upper slide must be left open all night (at this stage) 
with early hatches; the March hatches may require it. 
We have even found it necessary during a very hot spell 
to put in a screen door at their bedtime, leaving the main 
door wide open, until our own bedtime. In this case 
the front windows are also left open. The chicks being 
against the back wall they are in no danger from drafts. 

As soon as the chicks have become accustomed to the 
roosts being left down, usually in two or three days, the 
use of the wire is discontinued and the muslin on the back 
wall is removed. 

Use of the Yards 

The age when the chicks may be permitted outdoors 
is dependent entirely on the weather. January hatches 
are seldom turned out before they are 10 days old and 
then only on clear, warm days. We leave them out but 
a short time at first, herding them back into the house 
until they grow accustomed to running in and out. We 
use a sloping runway, made of boards, as wide as the 
doorway, to make it easy for them to go back and forth. 
Care is used to keep the space between the runway and 
the fence filled with dirt so the chicks cannot pack up 
in this space; and we also bank the corners of the yard 
with dirt to prevent crowding. 

If the yard is in growing green stuff we cut it with a 
lawn mower before the chicks are turned out. The out- 



90 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

side water pot is not used until the chicks have been out- 
doors off and on for at least a week. This keeps them 
running into the warm house for water. 

Half of the mash troughs are brought into the yard 
from the house as soon as the weather permits, but on the 
January hatches this is seldom done before three weeks. 

The March hatches are let out earlier and they have 
their outside water pot and mash troughs earlier also. 
Common sense will dictate the course to be followed in 
respect to these matters. Our rule is to take no chances 
on exposure to inclement weather. If a cold wind or driv- 
ing rain sets in while the chicks are outdoors, when they 
are less than four or five weeks old, we take the trouble 
to herd them in. It is a bit troublesome at first, but they 
soon learn your purpose ; and in a short time your appear- 
ance in the yard along with a sudden drop in tempera- 
ture or a heavy rain will be a signal to "scoot." 

The second division of the yard is opened as soon as 
an appreciable number of the chicks begin to fly over the 
little division fence. We do not cut the green stuff in 
the second yard — they are allowed to mow it themselves. 
The feeding of green stuff inside the house is not dis- 
continued when the chicks are turned outdoors. 

If the weather is favorable at about 4 weeks, half of 
the sprouted oats and half of the evening grain is fed 
outdoors from that time on. 

With the late hatches care is taken to keep the first 
division of the yard from getting dusty; it is wet down 
regularly. 

At from 5 to 6 weeks the cockerels are taken out; but 
betore entering on this phase of the work the description 



WITH 4200 HENS 91 

will be interrupted to discuss possible troubles that may 
have been encountered meantime. 

Chick Troubles and Diseases 

The reader, especially the novice, might assume from 
the description given that we still have all the chicks that 
we counted out of the boxes. If such were the case there 
would be no money in egg-farming — it would be too easy 
to be profitable. 

We count on raising to the broiler and egg-laying 
stages about 80 per cent of the chicks hatched. Judging 
by what you read in descriptions of brooding appliances 
this may seem startling to you. And to the experienced 
man who uses another method it may seem that we do 
a lot of unnecessary work and spend a lot of time to get 
such poor ( ?) results. To the latter might be given the 
reminder that we are dealing with 1500 chicks all the time 
— if we had to do all these things in twenty or thirty 
different compartments, opening and closing that many 
gates for each operation, we would never "arrive." As 
a matter of fact the writer can easily handle from 4,500 to 
5,000 chicks single handed and alone on the plan herein 
given; and he not only can do it but he does and he 
handles a lot of other work along with it. 

The percentage of chicks raised is based on a year 
after year average and handling from five to six lots each 
season. In good seasons we do far better — we had one 
lot of 1,650 this year (1919) out of which the total brooder 
house mortality was only 85 chicks. This is the best 
record we ever made with such a large lot. It is not safe 
to count on doing that well one year with another in 



92 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

large lots. A greater percentage could probably be 
raised if the chicks are brooded in small lots; but one 
man could not handle so many. We prefer making a 
big showing of matured birds to a higher percentage and 
fewer of them. 

We count on half pullets and half cockerels. This too 
will vary with different seasons but half and half is a 
fair average. 

Danger Periods 

There are three distinct periods in the growth of 
chicks when they seem more susceptible to weakness and 
all are related to the process of feathering. The first stage 
is when they are two or three days out of the incubator. 
They are sprouting wing and tail feathers at this time. 
Some will go down under the strain, others will fall 
behind the flock in development and as a rule will never 
catch up. The second period, at from 10 to 14 days, is 
marked by the coming in of the feathers on the crop, on 
the back and on the neck; and the final period (in the 
chick stage) is when the feathers come in on the head, 
usually at from 5 to 7 weeks. 

Mention is made of these periods because we keep a 
careful eye on the chicks at that time. They always look 
ragged and rather hopeless when the head feathers are 
coming. We never allow them to suffer from exposure 
at such times. If they do not seem normally active we 
give them a tonic for two or three days. We use the 
Douglas Mixture in the water, at the rate of a teaspoon- 
ful to a quart of water. This is put into the water at 
the morning renewal ; the afternoon water is given clear. 
The formula will be given elsewhere — consult the index. 



WITH 4200 HENS 93 

Diseases 

Some chicks will die off for no apparent reason — they 
are simply found dead, apparently in perfect condition ex- 
cepting for that sad fact. Experts find reasons for it — 
in practice we have no explanation. You may safely 
count on finding one of these every now and again ; but 
if you find them dead in bunches, plump bodies, fine look- 
ing little chaps, look to your feed. Is your grain sound 
and sweet? If it is not fit for you to eat it is not fit for 
your chicks. And your bran — is it sweet and pure? Or 
do you find lumps of it tinged with greenish mould? Have 
you spilt water in the litter and allowed the soggy mass 
to remain, tainting the grain and waste mash, to be found 
and eaten by the little fellows looking for variety? Are 
you giving them partially decayed vegetable tops, or fer- 
mented table scraps? Is the meat in the mash faulty? 
Did you leave them exposed to a sudden chilling rain? 

Nine times in ten the reason for numerous sudden 
deaths will be found in this list. If you find the fault, 
give the whole flock a dose of salts next morning, common 
Epsom Salts, a tablespoonful to a gallon of water (dis- 
solve it in hot water and add to your pail) in mild cases, 
double the dose if the attack is severe. Give them fresh 
water in the afternoon, and follow with the Douglas Mix- 
ture, as already directed, the next two days. 

You may have some leg weakness — sturdy chicks get- 
ting down on their knees. Once more the scientists give 
us the cause but we admit our ignorance. We have seen 
it with all kinds of brooding methods and with various 
feeding systems. We do not know the cause nor the 
proper remedy. If the attack is a severe one we assume 



94 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

that a thorough cleansing and disinfecting of the intesti- 
nal tract cannot be harmful and we give them the salts 
and tonic. Our experience is that the greater number 
get over it. We segregate those affected, putting them 
in a large wire covered box, not too near the stove, until 
they get their legs again. 

"Puffy crops" is another common trouble. You will 
see chicks here and there, early in the morning, with 
bloated crops which on examination are found to be air- 
filled. An isolated case can be treated with a bit of 
common soda, dissolved in water and poured down the 
throat. If numerous cases develop give the whole lot a 
dose of soda (as already described), adding a heaping 
teaspoonful of ground ginger to two or three gallons of 
water; give this two mornings in succession. 

. Toe-picking is often encountered. The cause has been 
ascribed to almost everything under the sun, from lack 
of meat to an injured toe suffered by the great grand- 
father. We think it is started by a nervous condition 
due generally to excessive heat and lack of air, either in 
the incubator (after hatching), on the road home, or in 
the brooder house. Once started it is hard to control. At 
the first sign we make sure there is plenty of fresh air 
in the house and that the temperature i$ not too high. 
Next the windows are darkened; and if the light is still 
very strong the glass can be painted over with whitewash 
into which a little lampblack or some blueing is added. 
Then a special effort is made to keep the chicks busy — 
rake the litter into piles at intervals; they will try to 
scratch them down as fast as you make them. Add a 
little grain to each pile. Give them extra greens. Hang 



WITH 4200 HENS ' 95 

bunches of lettuce against the walls — anything that will 
divert them. This is the best treatment we know of. The 
chaps that have been attacked must be segregated in a 
box or something of the kind. As long as bloody toes 
are in evidence they will keep at it. 

White Diarrhoea and Coccidiosis 

There remain but two well-recognized troubles to be 
discussed, and, judging by the quantity of matter written 
concerning them, these two cause by far the greater 
mortality amongst chicks : White Diarrhoea and Cocci- 
diosis. The writer has so far been spared experience with 
either of them, although he has been called on many times 
for assistance in handling chicks so infected. Whether his 
having escaped them is due to his method of handling 
the chicks, either in brooding or in feeding, he is not 
prepared to say. This work being based entirely on his 
experience he might very properly avoid the issue, but 
with the understanding that he is dealing with theories 
he ventures these opinions, based entirely on obser- 
vation : 

White diarrhoea is most commonly recognized as 
"pasted-up-behind," w r hich is self-explanatory. The 
chicks become droopy and listless, stand around humped 
up, usually crowding together for warmth, and die off 
in great numbers. 

Scientists tell us it is a bacterial disease which may be 
transmitted from generation to generation and from one 
chick to another. This sounds rather hopeless ; and it 
may be so. The wonder then is that there are any chick- 
ens left what with the interchange that is constantly 
going on, especially with the growth of the commercial 



96 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

hatchery business. But we will admit that there is a 
distinct bacterial disease of the kind. Let us take refuge 
in the suggestion that what is commonly called white 
diarrhoea in chicks is not that particular disease. From 
that standpoint it can safely be discussed. 

The writer believes that bowel trouble in young chicks, 
evidenced by "pasting up/' is due primarily to a chilling 
of the chick while very young and when it is most sus- 
ceptible to such a shock. And in the light of such a belief 
it will more readily be understood why he so strongly 
urges extreme care in handling the chicks. If the reader 
is sufficiently interested he may turn back the pages and 
learn how the writer would avoid the trouble, which to 
his notion is the only hope. 

A flock of chicks infected with white diarrhoea is well- 
nigh a hopeless proposition. The best we can do, all we 
can hope for, is to save the strongest. We would give 
them the salts and tonic treatment, the salts once a week, 
the tonic every other day. Most authorities dwell 
strongly on the merits of sour milk or buttermilk, kept 
before them all the time. This must not be given in tin 
or galvanized iron vessels. The best plan is to scald 
several of the mash troughs, to make them water tight, 
and feed it in the troughs. 

More important is the matter of avoiding further ex- 
posure. If the theory herein advanced, that the trouble 
is due to chilling, resulting in a cold settling in the intes- 
tines ; if this theory is correct, we must first of all make 
certain that the chicks are no longer exposed to chilling. 
Excepting late in the season they had perhaps best be 
kept in the house for a week or two, where the air is kept 



WITH 4200 HENS 97 

not only fresh and pure but tempered with warmth all 
over the room, and in addition, a zone of extra warmth 
may be found close to the stove for those needing it. The 
objection to letting them outdoors is that the stronger 
ones, those able to withstand possible severe changes in 
temperature, will always "scoot" out, and the weaker 
ones that need a tempered atmosphere will run with them 
as long as they can, finally bunching up where they are 
still in sight of the fellows who are enjoying themselves. 

A change in the feeding method is also advisable. Let 
them have their grain and greens as before, but abandon 
the dry mash feeding and substitute a moistened mash, 
fed twice a day say at 10 a. m. and 3 p. m. If milk of 
any kind is available, use it to moisten the mash, not a 
wet, soggy mass, but a crumbly mixture, one that when 
balled up in the hand will fall apart readily when the 
pressure is removed. The addition of finely chopped 
onions or garlic and stale bread, the latter previously 
soaked in milk or warm water, would be a decided bene- 
fit. Feed the grain sparingly and use the plats regard- 
less of age, but in addition scatter some grain promis- 
cuously through the litter. 

It would also seem advisable to clean the brooder house 
once a week while the trouble is running, putting in fresh 
straw at each cleaning. Keep the temperature up, espe- 
cially at night. Keep it high enough so that they will 
spread out. If the roosts have been let down, put them 
up again and resume the use of the wire circle, enlarg- 
ing it sufficiently so that the stronger chicks can get away 
from the increased heat. Watch the ventilation care- 
fully; give them plenty of fresh air at night, but do it 



98 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

through the air shafts rather than with open windows. 
Keep the windows open during the day, and if the days 
are uncomfortably warm, use a screen door on the main 
doorway. 

The writer believes that when you have done all this, 
you have done everything possible and that you will save 
the livable chicks. You may feed some of the many 
kinds of "dope" offered in the market if you wish — we 
never use any; but we have not been driven to it, perhaps. 
Whether you use "dope" or not, give the chicks the care 
herein outlined; they need it. 

Coccidiosis looks as formidable in action as it does in 
print. It is said to be an infection of the Caeca, some- 
times called the Appendix or Blind Gut. The only cases 
that have come to the writer's observation have been m 
chicks that were from 6 to 8 weeks old. The outstanding 
symptom is the passing of a bloody mucus in the drop- 
pings. The birds go down very fast and the mortality 
is extremely heavy. Bichloride of Mercury has been used 
successfully in treating this disease. The preparation 
with instructions for use may be had from the Poultry- 
men's Co-operative Milling Association of Los Angeles. 

Don't Worry 

Should the reader be new at the work, let him beware 
of too much pondering over what has herein been related 
as to chick troubles; and more particularly let him be- 
ware of studying too closely the booklets and circulars 
that will come to him concerning diseases of chicks. 

Too many people are influenced by these lurid descrip- 
tions ; they immediately see all of the many symptoms de- 



WITH 4200 HENS 99 

scribed, and proceed at once to dose and doctor the imag- 
inary ills. 

One of the most successful small operators the writer 
knows, a man who has brooded twelve to fifteen hundred 
chicks each year for a number of years, has never had 
trouble of any kind excepting toe-picking ; and while the 
writer has not been present every minute of the time yet 
he is morally certain that this man has never fed or used 
an ounce of "dope" of any kind. But he lives with his 
chicks. If they are outdoors when young and a sudden 
cold wind comes up, he drops whatever he may be doing 
and puts his chicks inside. Constant care and thought 
for the welfare of those chicks is the only panacea he 
knows; and in the writer's estimation his is the best 
remedy. 

The fact that he raises a larger percentage of his chicks 
than we do would tend to prove, to us at least, that his 
greater care shows up in his better results. 

Let that be your main reliance ; look after your chicks 
carefully and methodically. And should trouble come to 
you in spite of it, check back your work (as an account- 
ant would say) — try and find the point wherein you failed 
to properly protect them, and the finding of the error will 
be its own best remedy. Make up for it by extra care as 
has herein been outlined ; your chances of overcoming the 
trouble will be far better if you follow some such method 
than if you try to make the correction by dosing and 
doping. The latter method is like unto a mother whose 
baby cries because of a loose pin and who quiets it with 
some "doped" soothing syrup while the pin remains. If 
you fail to go over your work and locate the cause ot 



100 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

the trouble you have learnt nothing from the experience. 
And don't get "rattled." You'll forget to fill the fuel 
tank or set the house afire if you lose your head. You 
cannot expect your chicks that have been drooping to 
show up in fine mettle the day after you have removed 
some rotten feed or closed the door you left open the night 
before or restored the supply of fresh air which you acci- 
dentally shut off. Give nature a chance to repair the 
damage, with such help as you are giving her in the way 
of extra care and special feeding. 

Lice and Mite Troubles 

We have never had lice on young chicks hatched in an 
incubator and brooded artificially excepting during our 
second year in the work when we made the serious mis- 
take of mixing hen-hatched chicks with those hatched 
in the incubators. This nearly ruined the whole year's 
work. Since then we take special precautions to see that 
neither hen-hatched chicks nor old fowls gain access to 
the brooder houses and yards, nor are any such allowed 
the freedom of the place in the enjoyment of which they 
might wander near the brooder yards. 

You will have no mites in the brooder house if you 
spray the house in advance as we do ours. 

Cleaning and Spraying the Brooder Houses 

We clean and spray the brooder houses just once dur- 
ing the brooding stage. This is done at about 4 weeks, 
when the roosts are let down permanently. When the 
January chicks are taken out the house is cleaned and 
sprayed before the next brood comes on. When the 



WITH 4200 HENS 101 

March chicks are carried in the brooder houses beyond 
the 6 to 8 weeks' stage the house is cleaned every ten 
days and is sprayed once a month. 

Training the Family Cat 

It is an easy matter to train a cat to leave the chicks 
alone if the matter is gone about properly. If there are 
young cats on the place when chicks come in they are 
taken to the brooder house, in among the chicks, are 
given the "smell" of a chick along with a reasonable 
cuffing. This is repeated several times and thereafter 
they usually give the brooder houses a wide berth. If 
they are found nosing around the brooder house after- 
ward we make a point of having a pail of water handy 
and if the cat can be given one good drenching the les- 
son is learned. Should a cat be caught in the house or 
yard with a chick we drench it in a barrel; if the chick 
is dead we force it into its mouth for the drenching and 
then hang it around the cat's neck for a time. 

Old cats are harder to train but with patience it can 
be done. We have a mother cat on the place now who 
has been found time and again watching a gopher hole 
in a brooder yard with chicks all around her; and we 
have watched her take her kittens to the brooder yard 
fence, evidently to show them the chicks, and when they 
showed interest she would cuff them just as we did her. 
The farm is a sort of repository for stray cats. 

Buying Partly Developed Chicks 

At times an opportunity presents itself to purchase 
partly grown chicks. If your brooding has not been sue- 



102 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

cessful or if you could handle more young stock than 
you have this might be worth while. But great care 
must be exercised or your last state will be worse than 
your first. If it is at all possible it would be better to 
keep the new lot entirely separate from your own. If 
this is not practicable you must be sure that the birds 
are not coming from a place where disease has been ram- 
pant and that the chicks are not infested with lice. It 
seldom pays to buy a run down lot that someone has 
failed with — you are only risking your own. 

Under no circumstances should hen-brooded chicks be 
mixed with incubator lots; this applies no matter how 
clean of lice they may seem to be. The possible gain is 
not worth the risk. If you can't keep the hen-hatched 
lot separate from the others do not buy or take them. 

Taking Out the Cockerels 

We take out the cockerels at from 5 to 6 weeks — those 
that are easily distinguished. They can usually be se- 
lected by their combs and shape, but the selection at that 
age is more or less guesswork, especially for a novice. 
Take out only those of which you are reasonably certain, 
and as others show up, take them out. Keep cockerels 
with the pullets rather than to put pullets with the 
cockerels. 

They are put into the cockerel house which has been 
heavily bedded down with straw under the roosts, a 
narrow board being tacked to the edge of the roosts to 
keep most of the straw in place. If the weather is bad 
they are kept indoors; but in any event they are not let 
out until toward noon of the day after they are moved. 



WITH 4200 HENS 103 

Water and feed is provided in the house until they are 
turned loose in the early morning. 

We put 250 cockerels into each 9x10 compartment of 
the house. The first few evenings we make sure that the 
straw is banked up in the corners under the roosts so 
they cannot crowd and pile up ; they must be watched in 
this respect for several nights, until they resume their 
roosting. 

The further treatment of the cockerels will be dis- 
cussed in a separate chapter. 

Continuing the Brooder House Work 

Taking out the cockerels makes room in the brooder 
house and gives the remainder a better chance. If the 
weather is bad it may be necessary to slightly increase 
the stove heat to make up for the body heat lost by the re- 
moval of so many of the flock. 

No change is made in the feed or the method of hand- 
ling the chicks, excepting that the gradual change from 
chick size to coarse grain is continued until at 7 weeks 
the fine grain is entirely replaced. The January pullets 
are taken from the brooder house at from 7 to 8 weeks, 
dependent on the weather. If the weather is good we 
take them out at 7, otherwise they remain until 8. The 
March pullets remain in the brooder house longer, as we 
do not have room for them until the summer re-arrange- 
ment of the laying hens is made. If the room is available 
they can be removed even earlier than the January lot. 
We put in higher roosts (in the brooder houses) at 8 or 
9 weeks, spacing them 8 or 10 inches apart and about 18 
inches from the floor. 



104 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

The stove is turned off at about 7 weeks, (this applies 
to the March hatches), this depending again on the 
weather. They need but little artificial heat at night in 
normal weather after 6 weeks. We taper it off gradually, 
also increasing the fresh air supply by using the upper 
slide on the outlet shaft. 

When they are comfortable at night without the stove 
we start the stove in the morning before turning them 
outdoors and run it until they have been outdoors and in 
again for a "warming-up" after tasting the outdoor air. 
If the day is cloudy or chilly the stove is run all day, 
turned low ; and at the last feed time it is turned up un- 
til they have settled down for the night when it is again 
turned off. This continued use of artificial heat is neces- 
sary because the house is a large one and there is little 
chance for the body heat of the birds to afford any rea- 
sonable degree of heat to the comparatively few birds 
who may need it during the day and who come indoors 
to find it. 

The third division of the yard is opened to the March 
pullets at about 8 weeks. 

Taking the Pullets From the Brooder House 

We put the January pullets directly into the laying 
house. The yards have meantime been ploughed and 
planted to barley which may be 12 to 18 inches high 
when they are moved. We put up a temporary fence of 
lj^-inch mesh netting, enclosing a space the width of the 
house space to be used and about 25 feet deep. This 
makes it easier to train them to the new housing place 
and also saves trampling of the green barley. If we 



WITH 4200 HENS 105 

need it we mow the barley in the remainder of the yard 
— it will grow up again very fast at that time of the 
year. 

In moving the pullets care must be exercised or some 
will be injured. They are nervous and flighty when their 
regular routine is interrupted and when they are shut in 
the house and some are being picked up and put into 
crates the others are liable to pile up in the corners, some 
being smothered. The best plan is to let a large part of 
the flock pass outdoors, keeping one or two hundred in- 
side. A panel of wire, 2 feet high and 5 feet long, cov- 
ered with burlap and set diagonally in one corner of the 
house, makes a good catching place. A few can be driven 
into it at a time. Meantime we keep an eye out for a 
possible piling-up of the others — if they are crowding into 
the other corners we stir them up before going to work 
on the lot behind the panel. 

Never crowd the youngsters in the crates when mov- 
ing them. A little more time spent at it is a good invest- 
ment. We always put them directly into the house rather 
than in the yard. It saves a lot of time, work and worry 
in the evening; they are determined to get back to their 
old roosting quarters. This is obviated if they are carried 
directly into the new house and are kept indoors at least 
until the next day. 

We put the whole lot from a brooder house into a fifty- 
foot compartment of the laying house — usually six or 
seven hundred. A special set of roosts is put into place 
under the dropping boards. These roosts are made of 
^2x2 stuff, set 6 inches apart on cross bars of 1x3, 5 feet 
long. They are hinged to the back wall about 12 inches 



106 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

from the concrete floor with supports under the center 
and near the front end. Two sections of roosts are used, 
each about 6 feet long. This leaves a clear space between 
the two sections. The floor is bedded down heavily with 
straw ; near the back wall the straw is packed in until it 
is flush with the roosts. We usually line the back wall 
with chunks from the bales and pile loose straw on top 
of these. The purpose is to prevent a piling up under the 
roosts which is likely to occur the first night or two. 
Chicks seldom take to the roosts immediately when they 
have been moved, even though they have been roosting. 

We keep them in the house for a full day after moving 
them to let them get acquainted with the new quarters; 
and if the weather is bad they are kept indoors several 
days. An exposure to severe weather is extremely bad 
policy just after moving a lot of young birds; they are 
nervous and excited at best and are far more susceptible 
to adverse influences. 

The awning is dropped at night ; and if it is very cold 
(or wet and cold), we hang a burlap curtain from the 
dropboard reaching to within 8 or 10 inches of the floor. 
We make it a point to be with them at bedtime the first 
night; they have come to know us, and in their strange 
quarters it seems to have a quieting effect to be arouna. 
We look in on them at the 7 o'clock round ; if the curtain 
was dropped and they seem to be too warm it is partially 
or completely raised — as seems best. We look in again 
just before our own bedtime and make such readjust- 
ment as may be necessary. This extra watchfulness is 
not necessary after a few nights, when they have grown 
accustomed to the new place. 



WITH 4200 HENS 107 

The main feed troughs are cut off, either by removal 
(the covers being hung to the outside wall), or by tack- 
ing a piece of ^x3 stuff in the openings both inside and 
out. The mash is fed in troughs made of a 6-inch bot- 
tom with *^x4 pieces for the sides, end pieces 6 inches 
high, and a piece of 1x4 across the top. Troughs are set 
both in and outside the house. Troughs of this same size 
are used for the March pullets in the brooder houses at 
from 7 to 8 weeks, and also for the cockerels when they 
reach that age. It is advisable to continue the use of two 
or three of the smaller sized troughs for a few days after 
the change is made — this applies at all stages. 

The regular house water pots are used after a few days. 
It is good practice to set one or two of the old style foun- 
tains inside the house, on platforms, just after the birds 
are moved. The pots are cleaned with a brush every day. 

The feed is continued as before. The pan or box of 
shell and grit must not be overlooked. 

When cockerels are spotted they are picked up prompt- 
ly and removed to the cockerel house. 

As soon as an appreciable number, say half, of the 
birds are found on the dropboard roosts at night — if they 
do not take to the dropboard compartments before they 
begin to look crowded underneath — the lower section is 
closed off and all are forced into the upper section. This 
is accomplished by the use of a set of sloping lath ladders 
set tight together, fastened to the front dropboard sup- 
port by loops of wire hung on nails. The laths are nailed 
to the supports not more than \y 2 inches apart and the 
whole set is fitted perfectly both on the edges where the 
different sections meet and oil- the floor; Care should be 



108 HOW I MADE $10 ; 000 IN ONE YEAR 

exercised to have no opening large enough for a bird to 
slip through. With the use of these ladders no trouble is 
had in getting the birds to go "upstairs. " If a few stay 
in the straw at the foot of the ladders we do not disturb 
them — they will go up in a night or two. But we make 
sure that none lie on the trough steps or in other out-of- 
the-way places. In a week or ten days the ladders may 
safely be removed, and the underneath roosts are taken 
out at the same time. A ladder is left in the center of 
each 16-foot section. 

As soon as the birds attain a proper size so they cannot 
crawl through the 3-inch openings, the main troughs are 
put into use; but several of the 6-inch troughs are con- 
tinued in use for a few days when the change is made. 

When the March pullets are put into the laying house 
(if they are from 10 to 12 weeks old, as they are with us), 
they are put directly on the dropboards by use of the lath 
ladders. They are kept indoors two days after moving if 
the weather permits. They can't be kept indoors that 
long if it is very warm. The same trough and yard ar- 
rangement is made as was made with the January lots. 
If they are to be moved at the earlier stage, 6 to 8 weeks, 
it would be necessary to use the same under-the-drop- 
board roosting arrangement as was used with the Jan- 
uary birds. 

Watch the birds carefully when you remove them from 
the brooder house and do not expose them to chilling 
weather. Bear in mind they no longer have a warm room 
to run to. If they have been turned outdoors and rain or 
a cold wind comes up better take the time to herd them 
into the house. They are at one of the susceptible stages 



WITH 4200 HENS 109 

of development and if you let them get soggy wet and 
chill you will surely have a run of colds. Do not let them 
outdoors very early in the morning. Give them a chance 
to have their morning drink and to eat some mash first. 

Being able to give the young pullets this extra protec- 
tion with food, water and scratch quarters available, is 
what makes the use of laying-house quarters superior to 
the portable colony house system. 

Should colds develop in spite of your care, give them 
the salts and tonic treatment, the salts one day and the 
tonic twice, a day apart ; if they are 8 weeks old or older, 
double the dose both of salts and tonic. If the colds 
continue give them this treatment each week ; and in case 
of a severe attack continue the tonic steadily for a week 
or ten days. 

Should the birds take to piling up at night (under the 
dropboards); put on the curtain when they go to bed and 
raise it part ways on your last inspection. The curtain 
makes of the compartment what is practically a closed 
box and several hundred birds in it will devleop a great 
deal of heat in a very short time. The opening at the 
bottom of the curtain will allow a sufficient supply of 
fresh air for an hour : or two. But there will not be suffi- 
cient air for the whole night. The closed curtain is used 
simply to warm up the compartment as quickly as pos- 
sible; and warming it up quickly will induce them to 
spread out before they sweat. 

The January pullets are kept ori the chick mash until 
they are at least 4 months old; and if they are well de- 
veloped and many full-blown combs are in evidence at 



110 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

that time, the chick mash is continued until 5 months^ 
Regular laying mash is then substituted. 

The March pullets are given the laying mash at from 
10 to 12 weeks, depending on the weather and their de- 
velopment. If they have grown fast and cool weather 
has prevailed (which has a tendency to stimulate growth 
and development) they are continued on the chick mash 
until 12 weeks; but if it has been been hot at intervals 
(or steadily) the birds will be slower, and they are then 
given the heavier mash at 10 weeks. 

Culling the Pullets 

We have learned by experience and by observation to 
go very slow on discarding and selling so-called "cull" 
pullets. One can run up their production per bird by 
making a close culling, taking out and getting rid of all 
the undeveloped birds at from 4 to 5 months; but we 
are not so certain that it is a profitable thing to do. For 
several years we culled them in this manner ; but instead 
of getting rid of the culls we kept them in a separate 
pen, and by far the larger part of these "culls" were after- 
wards retained. One such lot, taken from March hatches, 
outlayed the main flock throughout the high priced egg 
season, and never did we find we would be warranted m 
disposing of the entire lot. 

A case of mistaken culling that came directly to the 
writer's notice was one where a friend of his bought 75 
cull pullets from a dealer who obtained them from one 
of the large egg-farms; they were bought on the writer's 
advice. The purchaser knew how to handle chickens. 
This particular lot came into laying within two weeks 



WITH 4200 HENS 111 

of the time he got them and they made a flock average of 
better than 170 eggs in their first year — which is rather 
good for culls, especially since only one of the birds was 
discarded. 

We take out none but the plainest sort of culls — birds 
that are far undersized, scraggly, thin, draggy specimens. 
Anyone can spot these. They are usually an eyesore in 
the flock. Others that are lagging in development we 
segregate and keep to themselves for a few weeks, feed- 
ing them as we feed the broiler cockerels. This will bring 
them out if there is anything to bring out. If they do 
not respond to it we get rid of them. We think this plan 
is well worth following. 

These slower birds may not equal the high-laying 
record ; but if they pay their feed and as little as 50c 
projit per bird we have made money by the transaction. 
If they are constitutionally weak they will go down in 
the first moult, if we do not cull them out meantime, so 
they are no detriment to our breeding plans. It would 
be an easy matter to band them if one wished to be 
absolutely sure of their proving no detriment. 

The matter of culling will be discussed further in a 
subsequent chapter devoted to that subject. 

Feeding and Handling the Cockerels 

As our cockerels for breeding are taken from the Jan- 
uary hatches we do not force the January lots at the 
start. They are continued on dry chick mash, with 
sprouted oats fed at 9 to 10 a. m., and grain in the even- 
ing. Green stuff is fed, of course, and a pan of shell and 
grit is kept in each compartment of the yard. At 8 or 9 



WITH 4200 HENS 113 

weeks we make the first segregation for breeding stock. 
The best looking, active, vigorous birds, those that stand 
out in the flock, are put aside, in a separate compartment. 
At this first segregation we take out about three times 
the number we are likely to need. These are continued 
on the same plan of feeding. 

The remainder, as well as all of the March cockerels, 
are forced for broilers. They are given a light feed of 
grain early in the morning; sprouted oats at about 9; 
moistened mash at 10 (fed crumbly, not soggy) ; greens 
at noon ; a light feed of grain at 3 to 4, followed by wet 
mash within an hour. The quantity of all feed is gauged 
carefully from day to day, an effort being made to feed 
just what they will clean up in about ten or fifteen min- 
utes. Ample trough space is provided so that all tne 
birds can find a place. We use the 4-inch troughs at first 
and change to the 6-inch size as soon as the birds are 
large enough to eat from them comfortably. We keep 
them crowded ; there is little room to spare either in the 
house or yard. 

They are sold off just as soon as the market will take 
them. We sell a great many at from y^ to one pound, and 
but few are carried to lj^ pounds excepting when there 
is a glut in the market and we are compelled to run them 
up higher. This happens at times — always to our regret. 
With us it is no question of whether or not it is profitable 
to feed them for the higher weight. Our object is to get 
rid of them as soon as we can. We have our hands full, 
and we think we make more money by giving our avail- 
able time to the pullets. 

A beginner, in his first season, with nothing but the 



114 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

young chicks on his hands and ample housing space avail- 
able and ready would be warranted in carrying the broil- 
ers long enough to make the V/2 -pound weight under the 
market conditions prevailing in 1918-19. But a Leghorn 
should not be carried beyond that point. They make the 
1/^-pound stage more quickly, on the average, than any 
other breed, but beyond it they fall back by comparison 
— almost any heavy breed will make the 2-pound stage 
in less time than a Leghorn will. Furthermore in the 
ordinary market any other breed is given the preference 
over a Leghorn at 2 pounds and upward. 

There are more culls in the cockerels as a rule, more 
thin and "wasty" specimens, than among the pullets. 
These should be segregated and sold as a separate lot and 
as soon as ever a buyer can be found who will take them. 
Price is no object. Feeding cull cockerels is about as 
easy a way to lose money as the writer knows of. 

Marketing Broilers 

In marketing a lot of cockerels we make it a rule to 
grade them by weight, putting the one pounders in one 
yard, the 1J4 pound in another, and the V/2. pound in still 
another. It pays to do this. Gauging the weight is a 
matter of experience. The only way to learn is to have 
a small family scale for the purpose. Two persons can 
handle the work to better advantage than one working 
alone. Shut the first lot in the house, the second lot out 
of the house. Take the scale into the house along with a 
short hook. Pick up the largest looking bird, weigh him, 
clip his tail and turn him loose again. Use him as a 
sample to guide your further choice. Birds that weigh 
up can be put into the yard through the slide door; those 



WITH 4200 HENS 115 

under weight can be put into the next compartment 
through the partition door; and the very small ones 
should be put into a crate standing outside. 

This is the easiest way we know of to make the grad- 
ing. If a bird is unruly and refuses to lie on the scale, 
fold the wings, one over the other, passing the joint of 
one wing clear round the other wing. When you have 
graded a few hundred in this manner you will soon learn 
to pick them out without separate weighing, and you 
can then use a crate in the yard with a platform scale 
just outside it, weighing six or more at a time. 

The grading should be done early in the morning be- 
fore the birds have filled their crops. This will save you a 
lot of dissatisfaction in dealing with your buyer. It is 
useless to try and sell a lot of feed (inside the birds) at 
broiler prices ; and if you are shipping them, while it is 
good practice to give them some feed before sending them 
on the journey, to prevent undue shrinkage en route, be 
sure to allow for the weight of the feed in counting what 
you are likely to get for them, as it will be dissipated be- 
fore they reach the marketman ; otherwise you will be 
like the farmer who said of his pig that it did not weigh 
as much as he thought it would and he did not expect 
it to. 

Cockerels Intended for Breeders 

The cockerels retained for possible breeders are given 
the use of the large yard as well as the small ones. The 
large yard has been planted to green stuff previously and 
they are turned into it. They are continued on chick 
mash, grain and sprouted oats until they are about b 
months old when hen mash is substituted. Meantime we 



116 HOW I MADE $10,000 IN ONE YEAR 

pick up any that do not measure up to standard and put 
them in with the younger broilers for market. This 
process of elimination is continued until none but the 
choicest specimens remain. If we have more than we 
need they are sold for breeding purposes. 

They become very troublesome at 4 months of age. 
There will be a lot of chasing and tearing around. Some 
will go down in distress and if they are not removed they 
will be killed. We keep a long-distance ear open at all 
times and at signs of a specially riotous time we investi- 
gate and remove the cause of the trouble. It is death to a 
hen or pullet that is permitted to remain in the cockerel 
yards if one should fly the fences. 

Some of the birds are likely to be kept in the houses by 
the bosses and will suffer for food and water. We make 
it a rule to turn them all out of the house early in the 
morning, closing the slide doors to keep them out, and 
leaving the door closed for an hour or two. They are 
less troublesome in the morning; and in this manner they 
are sure to get feed and water. In cool weather this can 
be done again in the evening. 

We tried a plan once suggested of keeping a few old 
cock birds with the young cockerels to act as policeman, 
putting them in early, while the cockerels were still quite 
young. This scheme" worked beautifully. The old fel- 
lows kept the peace and made the youngsters behave, 
until one bright day the youngsters "rushed" the old fel- 
lows and answering the riot call we found the old men 
down on their knees in different corners; it looked as 
though a concerted plan had been agreed upon for every 
single one of the old cocks was utterly whipped. 



WITH 4200 HENS 117 

A brother poultryman recently suggested planting milo 
maize or egyptian corn in the large yard, putting it in 
rows close together and sowed thickly. This when 
grown forms a heavy thicket which would afford protec- 
tion. We shall try it another season. We welcome and 
appreciate any suggestion that might lead to easier con- 
ditions among the breeding cockerels. It might fairly, 
truthfully and slangfully be said "they are a tough lot. 
and the better they are the tougher." 



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